Sheltie Fitness Coaches

The Human Vet confirmed it. We are making Mama healthier!

Mama had to go for her yearly physical. While she still has a long way to go the human vet saw improvements and asked Mama what she was doing. She told her about walking us when the weather wasn't wet and we received great compliments for motivating her.

Don't doubt your healing power folks. We can do it.

Tyler the Turkey Returns with a Friend

Some of you might remember Mom's obsession with holiday toys. She just took down the Halloween decorations and mysteriously our Mummy and Bat toys have gone missing into the strange world of the Attic. However, as the Halloween toys went missing, who should appear, but Tyler Turkey and his friend.

Last year, Mom looked everywhere online and in person for Thanksgiving dog toys. She finally found Tyler. While taking Bailey and I to get pictures with Santa she was so thrilled to discover a Tyler on clearance at the place we were having our pictures taken. She stashed him in the Thanksgiving box and we were thrilled to discover not one but two turkey toys to play with this year. We do need a name for the second one though. It is too confusing if they are both Tyler.

If anyone spots any other Thanksgiving toys on the market, please let Mom know. She is always looking to expand our holiday toy options.

The First Snow Cookies of the Year

It snowed yesterday and we were treated to the first fresh snow cookies of the year. The best thing about snow cookies is Mom doesn't care how many we eat. We can run around the yard and scoop up as much as we want and she doesn't seem to worry about it ruining our dinner. That's what she says when we want to many of our other snacks.

We are still having wet weather, but it is more sleet than snow at this point.

This is our friend Mrs. Pumpkin. She has been on our porch for a while now. She had a brief trip indoors during the hurricane, but moved outside afterwards as we missed having her out there. Mom and Dad seem to think she will be traveling some time before Thanksgiving. We will miss her as we have spent hours sunning ourselves next to her.

So Much Going On

We survived the Sandy without a loss of power. Mama kept rubbing her magic emergency lantern every time the power dimmed and the lights came back on. We are praying for all those who are still without power and recovering from all the damage.

Bailey came up with a new idea for trick or treat. He got a head pat for every treat given out. Katy came closer to the door and was spying at the trick or treaters from a cave she created. She might not have wanted to get close, but our girl is getting braver and refused to miss out on the action.

Katy has also discovered the joy of leaves. Last year Katy was terrified of the sound made as people and dogs pushed through piles of leaves left on the streets. This year as we've been walking more frequently, she has become very curious about the smells and the texture of the leaf piles.

What really drew us out was the card swap. It has been a tough summer and fall for Mama and she hasn't been doing much blogging. She preposted a bunch of stuff for her education blog last winter that has continued, but everything else has been dragging. However, she has been scanning blog postings and when she realized she almost missed the sign up for the Christmas cards she not only signed us up, but she wanted to let people know we were still out here.

We Love Fall

Summer has many benefits, but there is nothing like the cool fall weather for outdoor fun.

Mama melts like an ice cream cone so she comes out more when the weather cools down. We get more walks. There are so many interesting smells. The back porch is warm, but lacks that sauna effect of midsummer.

When Mama and Papa clean out the gardens, we have even more room to play. Truly, there are no down sides to fall in New England for a Sheltie.

Fall Has Arrived

We took some time off from blogging. As we mentioned in our last blog one of Mom's relatives was very sick and finally passed away. Mom has not felt much like working on the computer.

Mom and Dad have been walking more and Katy has finally taken up reading pee mail although she rarely responds. Up to this point, walking has been about walking and occasionally meeting other dogs on our walks. However, in the last few days she has finally developed an interest in the environment, stopping to smell the grass along the way.

Football season has arrived and we have our bed positioned right in front of the tv for maximum viewing pleasure. Sometimes we even get to share the couch with Dad. We like watching both college and professional football. Dad has been much calmer since the ref situation has been resolved.

We hope to catch up on all your blogs soon.

Monday's News

We can't believe the Olympics is over. Mama wanted to be more active, but there has been lots of family stuff going on.

We celebrated our Grandpa's birthday not to long ago. He's visiting from Florida for the summer and we are so glad to spend time with him. For someone who hasn't spent much time with dogs, he truly has taken to his doggy grandkids. Mom and Dad are often surprised that we have charmed them so much.

On a sadder note, we went to visit one of our favorite relatives at the hospice center. Katy has never been to a nursing facitity before and she was so brave. All of you would have been so proud of her. She even let two older ladies pet her as she was leaving. She spent most of the time at the end of the bed guarding against intrustions. She really couldn't grasp the purpose for the visit. Bailey has had nursing home experience. He spent a good bit of time visiting my grandmother when she was staying in one. However, he is much closer to the person who is there now and you could tell it was troubling him when he realized who it was and where she was and he hopped up on the bed and snuggled with her for most of the visit. It was hard not to cry when you realized how much he understood. Bailey slept most of the afternoon away when he got home.

We thank everyone for raising our spirits during the Olympics. We enjoyed all the events.